LIAS aims to advance the globally conscious vision of area studies, both within and outside the academic community. Focusing on Asia and the Middle East, the institute is a meeting place of multiple fields of inquiry, theories and methods, historical periods, and areas.

The MA Southeast Asian Studies at Leiden University explores Southeast Asia in-depth and from the perspective of its history, literature, media, culture, religions, philosophy or philology.

From the 1920s on, popular music in Southeast Asia was a mass-audience phenomenon that drew new connections between indigenous musical styles and contemporary genres from elsewhere to create new, hybrid forms. This book presents a cultural history of modern Southeast Asia from the vantage point of popular…

South and Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most dynamic and diverse areas. Interested in speaking one of the region's major languages, and understanding its history, culture, and current affairs? Then this is the bachelor's programme for you!

Southeast Asia is a term to denote a collection of at present eleven nation-states with an enormous diversity in languages, cultures and religions. Muslims can both take a majority and a minority position.

SEAtrans: an interdisciplinary research project that aims at studying the dynamics and processes of transitions in society-nature interactions in Southeast Asian societies.

Balsaminaceae is a diverse plant family characterized by a huge floral morphological diversity.

On 20 September 2023 Mark van de Water successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Research how ‘custom’, ‘traditions’ and ‘heritages’ take on new meanings in the uplands of South and (mainland) Southeast Asia.

To truly understand complex regions such as the Middle East and Asia, you have to know their culture, history and local societies inside out. Driven by curiosity for other cultures, the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) provides an understanding and analysis of current and historical…

Investigating epistemic and ethical practices in medical experimentation on humans in the colonial period in Southeast Asia.

How are contemporary art practices from Southeast Asia negotiating notions of art and tradition?

Does foreign aid promote human rights?

'The Routledge Handbook of Civil and Uncivil Society in Southeast Asia' explores the nature and implications of civil society across the region, engaging systematically with both theoretical approaches and empirical nuance for a systematic, comparative, and informative approach.

Who were the main artists and producers who generated new forms of popular music? What was the music like that was produced by artists in particular urban settings? How were particular lifestyles articulated to identify new audiences and what does this reveal about the way popular music contributed…

Our research at CWTS is organized in three focal areas. These focal areas represent our core areas of interest, as defined in our knowledge agenda for the period 2023-2028.

We present our plans on five work areas: Students, Inclusive Education, Staff, Research, and Accessible and Inclusive Learning and Working Environment. For each work area, we explain which topics are relevant and what policy measures we (plan to) take.

The GTGC programme advances interdisciplinary research on how we govern – and could govern – major world-scale changes in contemporary society. These global transformations and governance challenges cover the themes listed here. The distinctions are not rigid, of course, and affiliated researchers often…

The Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) is devoted to the study of places in the human world from antiquity to the present time in a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective.

Within the Graduate School you can conduct your PhD research in a wide range of subjects across the Social and Behavioural Sciences, with five distinct research areas offered by its Institutes.

The Centre is the proud home of several research programmes.

PLATO is active in various fields of work.

The Tappino Area Archaeological Project aims to map and analyze ancient settlement patterns and dynamics in a small valley in Central-Southern Italy, in modern Molise (province of Campobasso). The first sites in the area date to the Bronze Age. In the Iron Age to Classical period, it was reportedly…

Kathryn Emerson defended her thesis on 28 June 2016